I'm new to DIY so I need help. I have to down size our home to sell it

Question

So how do I update it without a lot of money? I'm 81 tomorrow so I am not able to lift heavy stuff or climb up high ladders. Nobody that is able to spare time lives close enough to help much. Just want ideas and how to paint and make it sellable. Some of our dark brown furniture could get money in our yard sale. No hurry, but help. Books to read or sites to visit will help a lot.

Jan Loehr · Answer

May I make a few suggestions before you decide to do big jobs such as painting and such. First, from your pictures I see a lot of small knick knacks and glasses and such. I would clear them all away and declutter your furniture so when the time comes, your furniture will look better in the rooms...also I would suggest you may want to contact an Estate Sale company in your area to see if it is feasible to have them do a sale to get rid of extra pieces you will not need in the future. They will do the lifting and moving if necessary when they hold the sale...or purchasers will take the pieces away. Much less work for you! These are just a few suggestions which you can start to do on your own to get rid of stuff you will not need anyway if you are downsizing. Good Luck!!

1388315 · Answer

I agree, think smaller, remove all personal items that are small, either box them or go ahead a give them to family members ( even a small yard sale now, with help from your friends can work in your favor). You can also call around for auction house's to see if they might do consignments on your thing you might get a better pricing for your great looking items. as for the house just contact some ( more then one ) cleaning company's for a quote, this could be a smaller price and you might not even need to paint ( a good cleaning always does wonders) and make you feel a lot better about moving.. Best of Luck..

Gail Salminen · Answer

@Joyce brown wow, what a daunting task you have ahead of you. Check to see if there are any organizations to assist seniors in your area. Some businesses have special senior rates. You may want to check with this organization to see what is available. http://www.seniorresourcealliance.org/resources/central-floridas-aging-service-providers/ You can start by clearing off all of the surfaces cleared off the tops of your furniture. You will need many boxes. You may have to take some furniture out of rooms to make the rooms look larger. If you have a real estate agent, they sometimes provide access to professional stagers to provide advice in preparing your home for a viewing. Be prepared - they look at the home from the eyes of a hopeful buyer, so what they say is not condemning you at all, but sometimes it may hit close to home to hear them. Then there are also professional stagers you can hire to do all of the work for you. So start with the senior resource alliance for help. Keep us posted and you can gather more info for your issues.

B. Enne · Answer

Here are a few good links I found for you: http://www.canadianliving.com/life/money/top_15_home_staging_tips.php http://www.styleathome.com/homes/real-estate/simple-home-staging-ideas/a/31910 http://www.home-staging-montreal.com/home-staging-tips.html

Charlene · Answer

Happy 81st birthday! 
I agree that decluttering will always make a huge difference, it makes a place look bigger and less personal items will help a potential buyer envision their belongings in the home. if you don't mind taking on the task of painting ...then paint walls in a neutral color and add splashes of color in the assessories. I love your side board by- the- way,

Heliane Ripley · Answer

Remove all nicknacks, all personal photographs . all lace doilies, all pet toys and pet beds should be packed away and put out of site. Buyers need to be able to view their own things in there and not feel like they are invading a private space.

Heliane Ripley · Answer

And the silk flowers need to go too.

Lucy Nunn · Answer

Other than removing the personal items, as everyone has already suggested, your house is relatively neutral and sellable. Are there vertical blinds on a window to the right? I would have them removed. Inexpensive drapes from JCP or other places are preferable to verticals these days. It looks pretty good otherwise.

Carol Tanner · Answer

Your realtor can help you find a staging company who will come in and pick and choose the pieces of furniture that will make your house put its best foot forward. They also can arrange for storage of the pieces that you want to keep but that they do not want to use for the staging. Use an estate sale company to get rid of the rest They usually charge you a percentage of the proceeds so no money is needed up front. They also will do the heavy lifting. Your husband will just have to get used to accepting help from others.

Krakle · Answer

Went through this experience last year. The Best Advice was to remember you are showcasing your house, not your style. The less you there is the more a potential buyer can see their style. Less will definitely be more.

CK · Answer

I would be happy to help (for free) with ideas to help you get your home ready for sale. I've done home staging for others as well as our own home and it's been very successful :-) You can contact me via my website and we can converse via email. My mom's 82 so I understand your dilemma. ;-) www.cndesigns.biz

Barb Witherspoon · Answer

You could hire someone who does estate sales to help you. In our area, they charge 30% of what they sell. They stage, sell, and clean up afterward. We plan to do this when our parents, who are also in their 80's, downsize. Lots of other good suggestions here to help you stage. Also Houzz recently had an article on their website about staging your house to sell it. Lots of good ideas there. Seems that the #1 thing, though, is to clear out as much clutter as possible. My parents have so much stuff in their house that my realtor friend told me the house would show better if it were empty.

Krakle · Answer

Well you are sure good at replying... most people don't bother. You are moving anyway so just do your packing/removing now, getting help from friends or paying, so you only do it once. Its not much to then pay for storage, or as we did, simply move extra furniture and boxes into the garage... You'll be doing work that has to be done anyway, and if you do paint or need to move the remaining furniture around... you'll have more room! Good luck. Also, I've viewed houses where they have those little over the shoe slippers, and everyone took their shoes off when showing my house...

Kaioverbeck · Answer

Before a showing, remove all family photos. People need to imagine themselves in this home. A realtor will encourage the local community of realtors to give their opinions on how well the house will sell and what needs to be done.

Marion Nesbitt · Answer

Love your dining room set. If your husband is very attached to the home, a move will be very traumatic and may hasten his demise. I hope this does not sound harsh as it is not intended to be so. Personally, when I die I hope it is in my own home among the things I love. Could you look into getting in someone once a week or such to monitor his health? In the meantime, you could start clearing out cluttery things, downsize the kitchen stuff like cookie sheets, etc. Then when you do move, a lot has been done and you can better deal with the remainder or, as suggested, hire estate handlers. Most realtors will emphasize clean (windows, everything), reducing clutter, making repairs to things like sticking doors, etc. To avoid people tramping through willy-nilly during an open house, go with 'by appt. only'. Slippers are a great idea. Lots of great tips have been given.

Liliana Wells · Answer

Just a few suggestions: Store, donate or throw away nick knacks. The less you have on furniture, the bigger the rooms will look. If you can afford it, have the lawn cleaned and professionally cut. Add some plants to your walkway, have windows, fans and baseboards cleaned. The yard or garage sales ideas are great to minimize the accessories, furniture and clutter or have a professional do an estate sale. The less you have left, the easier your move will be. I Googled 'what to do when downsizing your home'. There are lots of good articles to guide you. Best wishes for your husband.

Debi53 · Answer

Liliana is right on with all of her suggestions. If you have a digital camera, take photographs of each section of your rooms & load them into your computer. You will be able to see what the room will look like through someone else's eyes. The photos really show clutter, crowding, patterns, etc. Remember, we all love our stuff, but no one else does! Think show house not store house. When selling your home, you must stop thinking of it as 'your home' & start thinking of it as a product to sell. Clean, neat, spare, neutral. Light & bright sells. Busy patterns & dark colors distract from what you want people to see--the features & size of your home. You don't have to get rid of what is important to you, just pack it away & store it. This will already be packed when your home sells. Family pictures, mementos, & other personal items are not gone forever, you are just giving them a nice rest in a storage facility until you unpack them in your new place to enjoy once again. Can you tell I was a realtor in my former life? I also redo homes to sell.
I wish you every happiness in your new cozier home.

Christina Dorrego · Answer

My mom tried to sell her home in 2007. A couple who looked at it then saw all the clutter my father had accumulated and walked away. 
 When he passed away in 2012, she wanted out of the mortgage and closer to me. She put almost everything in storage or sold it with estate people (and got screwed IMHO) and was out in 8 months. The same couple came to see, and found the UNCLUTTERED version was what they wanted. They purchased the house, after seeing it uncluttered. 
 It may help you to sell the place with the bare minimum bland furniture in place, so those who are interested will see their own stuff there.
edit for spelling

M'sMammy · Answer

Yes, clear out the doo-dads and personal photos, all decorative items. Sell what you want ASAP and if rooms are still full of furniture, arrange to have a good portion moved or stored. Same with your kitchen stuff and closets; they should appear rather empty so buyers think there is lots of storage room. Then clean as if your life depended upon it. Hire some help if it's too much for you. Let it go and don't be emotionally attached to the stuff. Nothing can take your precious memories. Good luck. I'd help if I were nearer. (I sold for asking price!)

Ginger the farm gal · Answer

I would pack up everything you want to keep, put it in storage, Have a indoor sale(advertize), use the table as your display, price everything as you put it out. Give away as much as possible to friends and family. Then have painting done.i personally like to look at houses empty, but if you want you can leave a few pieces or just rent a few pieces to display.May want to check with a local auction house for possibilities of a sale.They would take it all and save you lots of time and effort. Many blessings with you move.

M'sMammy · Answer

March 2016 issue of Consumer Reports has an excellent article of things to do to the house and projected return.

Pgl · Answer

Do you a Boy Scout troop in your area? Church youth group? Or a ladies circle or How about a Christian Ministry , if you are willing to donate to them what you no longer need I am sure they will come and move anything for you......stay away from Good will [ they are not a non profit group]

Wal17313092 · Answer

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Sarah Walker · Answer

You poor sweetheart! Ask your nearest local church and friends to help de-clutter, prepack and clean everything as much as possible. Maybe the will be willing to paint too. Removing as much personal mementos as possible will help to freshen up and simplify the efforts. Best wishes.

Dbu8317243 · Answer

Please be very careful if you decide to contact any of these numbers being given out. You have just shown us some beautiful furniture, and unfortunately there are people that will take advantage of you after seeing what nice things you have. As mentioned by a few others, I also think you should try to get help from your church, a local ladies group, or the boy scouts in your area just to be sure you remain safe. Please be careful when giving out your phone number and address and if you plan to meet someone, meet in a very public place with lots of people around....and preferable not by your self.

Johnchip · Answer

A good realtor will solve all these issues for you. They will make plenty on comission to help you from the start.

Johnchip · Answer

Get yourself a good realtor who you trust. They will help you decide what needs to be done and help resolve all these issues before hand as they will make a tidy commission when you sell. They know what you need done and who to get to do it for you.

Sf · Answer

Frankly, you're 81 years old and that downsizing will be hard for you. I agree with someone up above. Get a realtor to help you. A good realtor will find a contractor who can move your things out, paint, do everything you need to do. Throw some money at the problem and move on.

Sf · Answer

And P.S. don't call the numbers people are putting on here. Get someone close to home who you know.

Joanne · Answer

1. Depends on your funds$$ .. a good neighbor will usually help you.

2. Call your local high school they may have a 'Honors Society' or another 'service club' with responsible high school students.

They are often required to do free services in the community for school credits. But they do not often know of someone in need unless you ask. They can pack boxes and move furniture with some direction from you and a teacher or parent. The painting should be left to a mature adult with a little experience.

3. A younger retired neighbor would also be helpful with painting.

4.. Habitat for humanity may find you a couple of retired volunteers to help you in many ways.

4. Chamber of Commerce in your area could help you locate the right helpers within the community maybe a Rotary club.

Lots of business men and women volunteer their time to help. Trust your self and it will all work out, but any of these ideas could get you going in the right direction.

Don't be afraid to contact all of them . It will be a big job for anyone and I know each one of the above groups do it for free .... it is called lending a helping hand to seniors. It is a community service it is not a handout. Also a good idea a church member any church member even if you do not have a special church, they will get the word out you need help. I wish you the very best and hope your future is bright.

I'm new to DIY so I need help. I have to down size our home to sell it

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